Home Meditation Course: Meditation as Intimacy with the Self (SOLD OUT)

June 9 - August 14, anywhere you may be

O Nobly Born, O you of glorious origins, remember your radiant true nature, the essence of mind. Trust it. Return to it. It is home.
- From the Tibetan Book of the Dead

This course will explore the practices of meditation and mindfulness as fundamental acts of self-love and the cultivation of intimacy with oneself. Usually in a course description I would list the practices I intend to offer. For this course, I wish to simply and explicitly name our ground and goal as intimacy and self-love, and to take the freedom to choose which practices feel right to serve you best in the moment. I wish you to come not for the bag of tricks list, but for yourself. You are the treasure I call you toward. Nothing is of greater value than your relationship with your own consciousness and all-that-is, and this is what we've set our sights on in this course.

This course is full. If you wish to learn of future ones, email Kristie.

The Home Meditation Course time commitment is about 30 minutes a day for practice, 60-90 minutes once a week to read the Circle and Teaching, and whatever time you choose to write your weekly post.

The structure of the course looks like this:
- Every week we have a Sharing Circle.
- I open the Circle with an email on Friday. Your reply is due by Monday at noon. Posts received after noon Monday will receive a reply at my convenience.
- Monday afternoon I write replies to each of your posts; these contain both individualized personal coaching and general teaching. Everyone gets all of these; everyone reads all of these. Someone in the last course said, "I am blown away by Kristie's response to my questions. I feel that each of her responses to my posts are like little love letters to me as I practice, which motivates me even more."
- When the replies are completed I'll choose and prepare my Teaching email for the week's practice. Circle replies and Teaching might finish on Monday, might flow over into Tuesday morning. Teaching may be written guidance or may consist of audio recordings of guided practice.
- After the course the recordings and conversation remain yours for your personal use over time.

The course is open to all levels of experience; we are nearly certain to have some people who have practiced with me for years and others who are brand new to meditation. Each person will benefit another; our sharing and connection are part of the learning and the gift.

I have been pleased to discover that the Home Meditation Courses lead more course participants to successfully establish a regular meditation practice than other forms of teaching because you are practicing at home from the start. In addition, writing and reading the Sharing Circle rather than speaking it allows for greater depth and facilitates contemplation over time.

Registration begins by emailing Kristie to let her know you plan to participate and is finalized by your payment. Payment can be made by mailing a check to Kristie Dahlia Home, 651 Addison Street #405, Berkeley CA 94710, or by PayPal to dahlia@beloved.org. If you wish the convenience of PayPal, it is kind to add 3% to cover their fees, though I cannot legally require that, and so merely note that it would be kind. If you need to pay over time or discuss a lesser cost, please contact Kristie.

Students of prior courses have said:

"I offer the heartiest of endorsements of Kristie's meditation class. I'd pretty much given up on ever being able to develop any kind of a meditation practice before taking it. I have one now!"

"I have treasured this group and space. It is a great comfort and learning to be in a space with others learning and experiencing the same teachings. We all come from different places and spaces and have different perspectives. I have valued everyone's words and have learned so much. Thank you."
- Amelia Urban Romaine, MA, ATR-BC, LPC

"A year later I'm practicing nearly every day -- your course took!"

"I am still blown away by Kristie's response to my questions. I feel that each of her responses to my posts are like little love letters to me as I practice, which motivates me even more."

"Kristie's course changed the way I look at meditation. In the past, I've taken a course, read articles and blogs, tried to start a practice of my own and never felt quite at home with it. Kristie's clear, concise explanations made the journey feel like an adventure. It was so helpful to have the recordings so I could practice at my own pace, on my own time. Kristie was very responsive via email, responding to questions or thoughts in a respectful and meaningful way. I look forward to taking the course again."

"My life has changed in significant ways due to your course."

"Years ago, I had the experience of trying yoga for the first time. I couldn't believe at the time that it was possible to feel so good. I just started meditating with Kristie and had that experience again. It's like entering a room you know well, and discovering that there has been a window behind one of the walls this whole time. A window with a meadow outside."

"You are like an usher in a vast darkened theater, with a bright shining torch helping us each find our own way. I know I am still very much at the beginning -- of something, not sure what to call it in words -- but it doesn't feel as daunting or unreachable anymore."

"The classes have really changed how I think about my relationship with myself. I feel more capable of treating myself kindly and that has transformed my relationship with other people."

"I enjoy the way that your teachings first cleared some space for me to be with myself, then prompted some questioning as emotions and unfamiliar mental states came up, then gave me enough tools and methods to have some flexibility in finding practices that are helpful to me in these states. This is still in progress."